Over the past few years, making a wooden plane has grown in popularity, though it's always been difficult to find the right information and the correct components to build one. With this kit (and basic woodworking skills), it's possible to build a bevel-down, wooden-bodied smoothing plane with a Norris-style mechanism providing easy depth and lateral adjustment for the cutter. The kit includes a blade, a Norris-style adjuster with a steel cup to seat it in, plus knobs, tapped insert and a cross pin for the lever cap, all made of brass. The lapped blade is over 3mm thick and just over 41mm wide with a 25° bevel. The wood of choice for the body needs to be sourced; any blank 200mm x 56mm x 62mm or larger can be used and, most importantly, detailed instructions are provided. As the tool is constructed in the workshop, there's an opportunity to customise the size, shape or even bed angle of the completed plane, creating a practical tool that can be used for future woodworking projects.

There are three steel types available for veritas planes. For most of the planes we offer for sale we have opted for the new PM-VII type because we believe it suits the needs of most of our customers. The following describes the virtues of each type of steel.

01 steel is easy to hone and a very fine edge achieved relatively quickly.

A2 steel takes a little longer to sharpen but retains its edge for longer.

PM-V11 alloy steel is easier to sharpen than A2 and hold an extremely durable cutting edge for up to twice as long.

Veritas range offer some of the most accurately made planes available today. This combined with some interesting and unique aspects to the design make them an ideal choice for the serious craftsman in wood.

Plane bodies are made from stress relieved ductile cast iron surface ground to very fine tolerances. Where possible we supply planes fitted with the new PM-VII blades as standard for extended edge holding on all types of wood.

Most planes have adjustable mouths and blade adjustment is via a single screw/lever ‘Norris’ style mechanism that adjusts the blade up/down and laterally. Grub screws from the side ensure correct blade alignment.